


Career Project

by lilcrabcrab



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Career, Everyone has a job, Fluff, M/M, except haechan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 18:56:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20412691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilcrabcrab/pseuds/lilcrabcrab
Summary: At 18 years old, Haechan doesn't know what he's doing with his life (after all, who does?). So he turns to older strangers who seem to have their lives together, experiencing their careers, recording his findings, and making friends (and something a little more) along the way.aka that one where Haechan spends a day with each NCT127 member at their careers and somehow ends up whipped for Mark in the process





	Career Project

**Author's Note:**

> So I got prompted to write a one shot of NCT 127 if they weren't idols and each had their own jobs instead, and this is the product. Have fun :)

Taeil appears unperturbed by the squawking of the nearby flamingos as he addresses Haechan, smile gentle and welcoming. “So what’s all this for?”

“Well, I’m doing a project about careers, you see,” Haechan replies. He, on the other hand, can’t help but glance at the animals. “I kinda realised that I don’t know what I’m doing with my life, so I’m here to see what other people do. It’ll go into a video report thing when I’m all done, and maybe by then I’ll have a career for myself.”

The older man chuckles. “Well, I don’t know how much of a help I’ll be, but you’re welcome to spend the day with me.”

Taeil’s day is a lot harder work than Haechan had expected. There are enclosures to clean, animals to lead around, and maybe worst of all, people to contain. Haechan follows him around with his camera and notepad, studiously documenting his day, and helping out where he can. At a rare break during the day, Haechan shyly requests to see the lions, and Taeil lets him into the back where a pair of baby lions are kept. 

There’s something about the baby lions that Haechan finds incredibly endearing: maybe it’s their small vulnerable bodies, or the way they cuddle into each other. Maybe he just can’t look away from their round bright eyes. The only thing that Haechan finds marginally more intriguing is Taeil himself: he gets the strange urge to make a move on the older man, but decides that such an action would be much too unprofessional. Instead, he stares at him through the lens of his camera, and leans in an inch closer than natural when it’s time to say goodbye.

“I think you’re really cool,” he says, eyes turning into little moons as he smiles. “Can I have your contact details, in case you want to see the finished product?”

Taeil nods, typing his number into Haechan’s phone. He grabs a little keychain with a lion and a deer on it from the souvenir shop, and tells Haechan it’s a free gift. It goes onto Haechan’s backpack, and stays there until they meet again.

\---

The next person he’s supposed to meet is a surgeon. He would be intimidated by such an impressive job if not for the fact that the man had included a picture in his application, displaying a gummy smile and eyes that somehow evoke the image of a bunny. 

“I’m Doyoung,” he says as he walks up to Haechan in the waiting room, “nice to meet you.”

There is no nice break in Doyoung’s day. Haechan is immediately asked to get dressed in the sterilised gear and invited into the operating theatre to watch. Doyoung seems completely calm the entire time, even as he cuts open literal bodies and deals with some of the grossest things Haechan had ever seen, and Haechan finds it slightly terrifying and very exciting. People imagine surgeons to be constantly rushing and high-strung, but Doyoung operates with laid-back and cold precision, even taking the smallest amount of attention off his work during easier parts to answer Haechan’s questions.

“So, how long have you been doing this?”

“I actually just started this year,” Doyoung says. He drops a scalpel in the tray softly, stretching his fingers in front of him and standing back from the table.

Haechan’s eyes widen in shock, “You seem so experienced though?”

“No, not at all, actually.” 

“Did you get good grades then? You must have.” When Doyoung laughs and denies it, Haechan shakes his head. “I have no chance being like you, not with my pitiful looking report card.”

The patient is wheeled away, and Doyoung is quietly informed that the next one would be coming in a few minutes. Busy day, apparently. Doyoung nudges Haechan a little with his shoulder, smiling reassuringly. “It’s okay, you seem like you’re a lot better with this sort of stuff.” He gestures at the camera. “Making things, you know? You look like you do a good job of it.”

The older man smiles again. Haechan lifts up his camera and films those seconds.

“Maybe I am,” he says.

\---

If there’s anything that Haechan loves doing, it’s eating. And he thinks that if Jungwoo keeps being asked out to review such great restaurants, he might just stay with him forever. 

The day with Jungwoo starts off with brunch at a high end cafe and bright looks exchanged over fluffy pancakes and coffee. Jungwoo eats like a wolf who was taught manners, and Haechan finds it all too easy to fall into a playfully comfortable silence as they enjoy the food. 

The business side only really kicks in once they’re back at Jungwoo’s flat, which Haechan will be staying at for the next three days. As soon as they walk in, Jungwoo is whipping open his laptop, typing out notes and looking blankly ahead as if he’s tasting the food all over again. Every now and then he asks Haechan for his opinion, and he gives it gladly. When the writing is over and he’s just waiting for pictures to upload, Jungwoo finally looks up, leans back, and asks Haechan whether he has any questions.

The younger boy thinks for a few seconds, then nods.

“Are we going out for dinner as well?”

\---

Three days staying with Jungwoo are good for Haechan’s project: Jungwoo working on his blogs turns out to be the perfect companionship as Haechan works on editing and writing his own project. Halfway through his time there, he goes to the radio station to speak with the next of his victims: the famous radio DJ Johnny Seo.

“I’m turning on the mics in 10 seconds and then we’re live, okay?” The massive beanpole of a man speaks softly as he checks the tech around them. “Don’t be nervous: I’ll keep the conversation going, so don’t worry!”

There are a few beeps, and then upbeat music plays for a few seconds. Haechan adjusts his headphones and leans forward to look at Johnny as he starts to speak.

“So on today’s interview segment, we’re switching things up a bit,” Johnny says. His smile is dazzlingly charismatic, and Haechan can’t help but think it’s wasted behind a radio mic. “Today I have a student, Haechan, here with me, and he’s the one that will be doing the interviewing!” He gestures at Haechan, eyes encouraging. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Hi everyone, my name is Haechan! I’m doing a project where I interview people of different careers, and today that person is Johnny, who you know.” Johnny nods, and emboldened, Haechan starts to read out his first question. “So what’s so great about being a radio DJ anyways? What do you love about all this?”

Johnny answers: his response witty and exciting and Haechan finds himself relaxing immediately. 

When the show reviews come out, everyone says that it was one of the most entertaining interviews yet.

\---

The next man Haechan lives with (albeit just for one night, this time) is Jaehyun: a model. If Johnny had seemed a little glamorous and famous, Jaehyun is a thousand times that. He keeps his life at home laidback, and doesn’t even bother to do more than shower and brush his hair through in the morning, but when he gets on set, he changes into a completely different person.

Haechan is smitten with it all: the lights, and the make up, and the way that Jaehyun relaxes in his seat as concepts and clothes are presented to him. Jaehyun sits up straight and respectful as the day’s schedule is relayed to him, and there’s an aura of calm coolness as he takes it all in. When the make up is finally finished, he stands up, changes quickly in front of everyone, and strides out in front of the cameras.

The confidence that Jaehyun displays as he poses, then changes his outfit in front of everyone, then poses again; it’s intoxicating, and Haechan can’t look away.

He doesn’t take down very many notes that day.

\---

Mark Lee doesn’t really even have a career, and Haechan loves it. He spends half his day sporadically switching between writing a novel and talking to Haechan about random topics, and the next half testing out beats for a song. “You like music?” he asks. Haechan shyly admits that he has taken vocal lessons for a while.

“Great! Want to try out this song?” Mark brings up a project and starts it playing, his singing voice filling the room through the speakers. It’s a good song: chilled out yet passionate. “This is just a demo, so excuse my voice,” he says.

Haechan forgets to speak for a while. Then, in awe: “T-that’s a demo? And you did all that by yourself?”

“Yea, I did.” Mark is blushing now. “So, do you want to try singing it? If your voice is good enough, I could use you for the final version.”

Haechan can only nod vigorously, watching as Mark shows him the lyrics and tells him to try them out a few times. Haechan thinks he might explode from how absolutely amazing and brilliant Mark is, so his voice is a touch shakier than usual, but Mark seems to like it.

They spend the next few hours recording that song, and then going through all the other unfinished ones Mark has in store. When they finish up, it’s very late, but even still Haechan finds it difficult to leave.

“Come over some other time, we have to work together again,” Mark says, waving to him at the door. 

Haechan nods, says “of course,” and finally peels his eyes off him to walk out into the street.

His heart is beating at least 20 beats too fast and by the time he makes it back home he thinks he knows why.

\---

Even more exciting than Jaehyun’s lights and cameras, than Mark’s songs and music, is both of them put together on stage: that’s the life Winwin lives, performing every night and dancing away the daylight hours in the practice rooms.

There’s a beauty and precision in Winwin’s movements, and as Haechan tries to copy them, he finds it in himself as well. Maybe he can’t quite stretch as far as him, or dance for so long, but some part of Haechan knows this stage and the hours of practice well and intimately. Almost as if he’s lived it all in a different life.

“You’re not bad,” Winwin says, and Haechan glows at the compliment. 

“You’re better,” he replies.

Then it’s time for Winwin to go on stage, so Haechan melts into the wings to watch and film.

From behind the wings, the stage looks surreal. The spotlights are great pillars of white, and Haechan can see tiny specks of dust illuminated by them, made into glowing embers by the sheer brightness. The music is so loud that Haechan hears it through his feet on the ground, and within it all he thinks he might hear his heart whisper the word ‘destiny’.

Winwin comes off the stage sweating and grinning, the intense stare of the performance falling off easily with every step. They walk into the artificial lighting of the backstage corridors, and Haechan realises that he might not ever forget the way that a show feels.

\---

There is nothing calm or relaxing about Taeyong’s day at work. The kitchen is hot, and everyone is walking briskly around, and there are knives and fires and calm yelling. Even Haechan, who considers himself a rather loud and energetic person, finds himself cowering in a corner, filming discreetly and trying not to get in the way. 

In the midst of the chaos and the nice smelling food, he finds his mind reaching a sort of stillness. And in the stillness two certainties arise: firstly, that he must find his way onto a stage again, and secondly, that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to stop thinking about Mark Lee.

Around 10pm that night, the dinner rush finally dies down, and Taeyong finds a moment to come and talk to him. Haechan admits that he already has an idea of another career he likes now, and Taeyong seems more happy for him than disappointed to not be of help.

“Shall we have dinner now that the customers are finished?” Taeyong offers. Haechan’s mouth is already watering.

“Yes please,” he says, and although their conversation over the meal has nothing to do with Haechan’s project, the younger boy thinks he’s learnt more from it than any of the other ones.

\---

Haechan doesn’t think he’s ever met a guy cooler than Yuta Nakamoto, the (insanely hot) gym instructor that he is meeting as the last participant in his project. Every one of his movements exudes power and perfectly distributed energy, and Haechan knows that under any normal circumstances he would be doing all he could to get with him for a night. 

But evidently, these are not normal circumstances, because although Haechan can objectively see all this, it is far eclipsed by his memories of another boy a few days prior. When they take a break to talk, Yuta asks which one he’s liked the best so far.

Haechan tilts his head curiously, “Which job, you mean?”

“No, which of the people,” Yuta’s eyes twinkle as if he knows, “Have you made any new friends?”

“Well, I’ve liked everyone quite a bit actually, I’d like to stay friends with all of them…” He trails off.

At the hesitation, Yuta only pushes more, “And? There’s more, right?”

Haechan buries his face in his arms in embarrassment, before finally blurting out, “This guy, Mark, was really really cute and I don’t know what to do with myself anymore.”

Yuta bursts into hearty laughter, which Haechan can’t help but join in with, “And have you gone and contacted him since? No? How come?”

Among Haechan’s mutters about how it’s embarrassing and he’s shy and he doesn’t know how to deal with actual feelings, because all he knows is cheap flirting and one night stands, Yuta finally convinces him to just give it a try.

“Just ask to meet up again, yea?”

Haechan nods, feeling very small.

“And who knows, you might get a boyfriend out of all this.”

\---

It’s supposed to be a quiet, romantic affair. Haechan has it all planned out: they would chill around at Mark’s house all day like the first day they met, and then go out for a nice dinner. Haechan is even going to serenade him at the end of it all. It’s going to be the perfect first year anniversary of their relationship, and he’s beyond excited.

Of course, their friends have other plans.

It starts when they turn on the radio as background music while Mark is writing. Haechan thinks he’s hallucinating at first, but when Mark turns to look at him in shock, he realises he isn’t hearing things. That’s the song they had written together, for each other, playing on the radio-

Oh. Johnny’s station. Of course.

It is cute though, he has to admit. Mark almost knocks him over with a hug when he realises too - laughing, cursing, and praising Johnny all in the same breath.

As if on cue, the doorbell rings: it’s Jaehyun, dressed impeccably. “So, heard you guys weren’t doing anything special tonight.”

Haechan opens his mouth to protest, but Jaehyun cuts him off. “I’m here to fix that,” he says.

The ‘amazing, most perfect ever date’ (as Jaehyun called it) begins at the baby lions - all grown by now, as Taeil proudly declares, and continues on to the theater that Winwin usually performs at. Thankfully, apart from escorting the two of them to each location, Jaehyun leaves them alone.

“He’s just recreating how I met everyone,” Haechan realises when they get to Taeyong’s restaurant, and Jaehyun in the front seat stifles his laugh. 

“You love us though, don’t you?” he says, and Haechan reluctantly agrees. When they walk in, everyone is waiting: Yuta comes and yells at them immediately about how proud he is of the pair, and Jungwoo squishes both of their cheeks adoringly. Doyoung is somewhere at the back with a massive smile on his face and love in his heart, watching them all. 

As quickly as the greetings came, they’re all backing off. “Okay, you guys can have your moment now,” Johnny says, patting Haechan on the back, and Jungwoo makes interesting hand gestures as he leaves.

“We love you!” Jaehyun calls, and then there’s delicious food in front of them, and the kind of warm comfortable quiet that comes when you know that you really are loved.

“They really are something, aren’t they,” Haechan says, struggling to hide the grin on his face. ”Crazy that I met all of you guys just a year ago, when I was trying to figure out this mess of my life.”

“Yea, crazy,” Mark looks down at his food for a while, then looks up at Haechan with an unreadable expression in his eyes. “But can I say something crazier?”

Haechan nods, heart rate picking up again as he looks at the boy in front of him.

Mark smiles. It looks like something Haechan would want to see again and again in every lifetime, every alternate universe. “I think it might all have been fate,” Mark says.

**Author's Note:**

> This concept could honestly also be an entire chaptered fic so if you're interested in this and want a long af spinoff, please tell me! I'd definitely consider it. Otherwise, kudos and comment, I love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading!


End file.
